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Volume 17 - 3 June, 2014 Dear Parents & Students
Prayer for the Journey of Healing Almighty and loving God, you who created all people in your image, Lead us to seek your compassion as we listen to the stories of our past. You gave your only Son, Jesus, who died and rose again so that sins will be forgiven. We place before you the pain and anguish of dispossession of land, language, lore, culture and family kinship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have experienced. We live in faith that all people will rise from the depths of despair and hopelessness. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families have endured the pain and loss of loved ones, through the separation of children from their families. We are sorry and ask Your forgiveness. Touch the hearts of the broken, homeless and inflicted and heal their spirits. In your mercy and compassion walk with us as we continue our journey of healing to create a future that is just and equitable. Lord, you are our hope. Amen. (By the National and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission)
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK At Assembly this week we marked, through prayer, our participation and support for National Reconciliation Week as this is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to contribute to building a reconciled Australia. National Reconciliation Week started as the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 and was supported by Australia’s major religious groups. Under the guidance of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (now Reconciliation Australia), it evolved into the week-long celebration that it is today. Every year, it is held between two significant milestones in Australia’s history, May 27 and June 3. May 27 is the anniversary of the 1967 referendum in which more than 90 per cent of Australians voted ‘Yes’ to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the census and give the Australian Government the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The day before National Reconciliation Week, 26 May, is National Sorry Day, which was first held in Sydney in 1998 and is now commemorated nationally to remember and honour the Stolen Generations. June 3 marks the historic 1992 Mabo decision in which the High Court of Australia recognised native title – the recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights over their lands did survive British colonisation. (Courtesy of www.reconciliation.org.au )
Justice
Freedom
SINCERITY
Verity
Felicity